Repeaters or bi-directional amplifiers are frequently used to bring Radio Frequency (RF) energy into areas where subscribers lack coverage ubiquity or capacity sufficiency such as, for example, inside the buildings (e.g., offices, retail stores, etc.) or inside vehicles (e.g., trains, cars, etc.). Repeaters may be fixed or mobile and include multiple antennas—one pointing to the cell site and another pointing to the mobile device. For example, a repeater included in a car includes a single donor antenna outside of the car (e.g., on the roof of the car) and a single coverage antenna inside of the car.
In a simple configuration with a single donor antenna and a single coverage antenna, the repeater is used to augment voice and data service by capturing the RF energy from the network and passing it to the mobile device. Repeaters today are not under the control of consumer's mobile device. Repeaters are always ON and do not know what spectrum they are being used to amplify. Since the repeaters are always ON, they are ON even when not needed. For example, the repeater should not be active if it only supports frequency bands and/or radio technologies different from the mobile device that is in the area which the repeater is serving. Therefore, having such a repeater ON does not enhance mobile device operation and may be detrimental to the mobile device and/or wireless network by, for example, causing problems such as interference, noise, or poor performance.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and a method that allows for control of the repeaters by the consumer's mobile device.